Centre National de Recherche et de Formation sur le Paludisme
Burkina Faso
Read more about the Project!Problem Statement
The rise in insecticide resistance in major arbovirus vectors challenges outbreak response and control strategies. There's a limited understanding of resistance mechanisms, biting and host-seeking behavior, and environmental impact.
Progress Highlights
Ethical approval was obtained, and Aedes mosquito eggs were collected from urban and peri-urban sites in two climatic areas. Host seeking and biting behavior were studied during the dry season, with temperature and humidity correlations assessed.
Key Findings
The data collection has begun, and some of the key findings expected are the spatiotemporal evolution of insecticide resistance based on urbanization and climate, the distribution and identification of new resistance markers and candidate genes, and updates to Aedes mosquito biting patterns considering environmental impacts.
Potential Impact
The data generated will enhance insecticide resistance management in Africa, ensuring the continued effectiveness of control tools, supporting the evaluation of new Aedes control methods and genetic studies, and adapting strategies to address dengue and other arbovirus outbreaks.
Summary
Dengue and other Aedes mosquito-transmitting diseases are re-emerging in many African countries. Outdoor spraying of chemical insecticide products and water holding containers removal, where mosquitoes breed as adults and/or larvae, are the primary methods used during disease outbreaks. Unfortunately, these control tools are not adequately killing the mosquitoes that are able to remain alive after the application of these insecticides products. Our study aims to know the level of effectiveness of traditional and new insecticides and how these affect the mosquito biological life and biting behaviour.
Grantee Description
Dr Hyacinthe K. TOE combines more than ten years of field and laboratory experience in studying mosquito malaria vectors, testing different vector control tools in semi-field conditions, and investigating the impact of resistance on malaria vector control strategies. He obtained his PhD on Vectors Biology at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM), Liverpool, UK. His PhD works focused on the characterisation of insecticide resistance in Anopheles gambiae from Burkina Faso and its impact on current vector control strategies.
With the re-emergence of dengue and others arboviruses diseases such as Zika, Chikungunya and Yellow fever in many Africa countries, Dr Hyacinthe K. TOE re-oriented his scientific interests in Aedes mosquito, the arboviruses vector to understand its ecology, behaviour and resistance to main insecticide products.
Dr Hyacinthe K. TOE is adding teaching skills and has been promoted to senior Lecturer at the University Joseph KI-ZERBO (Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso). With this grant, he wants to contribute to the transformation of Africa by promoting the research culture among junior scientists.
Project: Ecology and behaviour of insecticide-resistant Aedes aegypti for dengue and other emerging arboviruses control in West Africa
There is a growing concern about the arboviruses infections testified by the recent dengue, Zika, Chikungunya and Yellow fever outbreaks in Africa. The primary response to the increase of arboviruses transmission is based on the reduction of the larval source using biological, mechanical and chemical methods and the reduction of adults which is based on the use of chemical insecticides. However, there is limited knowledge on the ecology and insecticide resistance of the primary vector Aedes mosquitoes, which is becoming resistant to multi-insecticide classes, as we reported in Burkina Faso.
This proposal aims at characterizing the extent of insecticide resistance and the underlying mechanisms in Aedes aegypti and assessing how this may impact its behaviour and ecology.
Investigation using next-generation sequencing targeted method will be performed to access the spatio-temporal distribution of resistance mutations across West Africa. The impact of insecticide resistance on Aedes mosquito’s life traits parameters will also be assessed. The biting and host-seeking behaviour and the environmental factors affecting this behaviour will be determined. The data generated will fill the gap in knowledge on arboviruses vectors and support the implementation of a sustainable control strategy.
